This invention relates to pipe connectors, and more particularly to connectors for tying back to subsea wellheads with casing, tubing or other pipe risers.
Conventional practice in developing offshore petroleum deposits is to drill a number of production wells from a drilling platform and then cap the wells at the ocean floor until a production platform has been installed at the surface. In order to commence production from such a subsea well, marine riser pipe is run from the production platform and connected to the subsea wellhead, a procedure generally referred to as tying back to the wellhead, and various types of tieback connectors are available for this purpose.
The present invention provides several improvements in the tieback connectors known at this time.